Tuesday, March 1, 2011

March comes in like a Lion

In like a lion.

That's the way March has blown into Kenora.

A sudden snow system blew into town this morning, but we're not expecting a lot more snow today.

Severe weather specialist Geoff Coulson says areas to the east of Kenora are being harder hit.

Coulson says high winds will create low visibility due to blowing snow, and will also drive the temperatures down over the next few days.

Drug Bust in Rainy River District

Four Rainy River district residents face drug charges.

Provincial Police seized over 37-thousand dollars worth of drugs, including 36 marihuana plants, a quantity of marihuana bud and a quantity of prescription pills from two homes in LaVallee township and Chapple township last Thursday.

A 26-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man from LaVallee township each face production charges.

Two men, aged 27 and 23, from Potts Township, face charges of possession and Insecure storage of a firearm.

Countdown begins for Kenora Winter Carnival

Organizers of the Kenora Winter Carnival have officially begun the count down.

The carnival takes place over the weekend.

Heather Paterson is the tourism development officer for the city and says even before the event gets underway, one competition has already been a success.

Eight local charities have been busy selling their carnival buttons.

The charity challenge will wrap up as one of the final events of the winter carnival on Sunday.

Paterson adds that they are still looking for teams to enter the Great Canadian Canoe Race on Sunday afternoon.

Frank Symonds Classic Results

A good weekend for the Kenora Nordic Trails Ski Club.

It hosted the 21st annual Frank Symonds Classic out at the  Mount Evergreen Ski Club and members took home hardware in three different categories.

Carl Peever finished first in the men's 10 kilometer race, while
Jennifer Findlay was the top female racer.

In the 9 kilometer freestyle event, Dan Morwood took top honors, while Janet Findlay was the top female racer.

In the kids two kilometer race Jakob Rasmussen set the pace, with Elise Hummelbrunner the top female.

Ring of Fire Blockade Planned

A First Nation is planning to set up a blockade Thursday near the massive chromite deposit in northern Ontario known as the Ring of Fire.

Marten Falls First Nation is planning to block access to the deposit near James Bay because its members feel excluded from negotiations on its development.

Aboriginal communities in the area have complained that mining companies aren't consulting them in their plans to develop the deposit.

Schaeffer Inquest Begins this week

An inquest gets underway in northwestern Ontario this week to look into the shooting death of a Peterborough man.
The O-P-P's use-of-force policy is under the microscope as a coroner probes the 2009 shooting death of Levi Schaeffer near a remote First Nation community.

The inquest will also look into the circumstances that led to Schaeffer being shot by officers in the Osnaburgh Lake-area.

O-P-P officers and members of Schaeffer's family are expected to testify at the inquest, which is expected to run through Friday.

Kenora Hydro Undecided on New increase

Hydro rates in the City of Kenora will be going up as of May 1st, but

by exactly how much is still a question mark.

Kenora Hydro has to decide by the end of the week whether to apply
for another rate increase to cover their portion of a court ruling
last week.

An Ontario court Justice decided that Hydro companies had overcharged on the amount of interest they paid on overdue accounts.

The fine was 18 million dollars.

President and CEO of Kenora Hydro Dave Sinclair says they are eligible to apply for a rate increase to cover the cost of the fine, but he's not sure whether they will or not.

Kenora Hydro already has a rate increase before the Ontario Energy Board and Sinclair isn't sure how a second increase would affect their application.

Gas Prices Up

                                        The price of gas continues to climb in Kenora.

Yesterday it hit a dollar 22 a liter, up three cents from the weekend.

Higher gas prices in Northern Ontario have the NDP talking about government regulation again.

Provincial leader Andrea Horwath says it's not fair that the North always pay more than what they do in Toronto

Horwath says government control would help even out the price in the province.